Secret Meeting
by MrRobButtle
Summary: Sheldon is not coping well away from home. Penny becomes worried about him. Set after Series 7 finale.
1. Chapter 1

Penny grumbled as the heat prevented her from sleeping. Atleast Leonard had passed out on the couch, the last thing she needed was another sweaty person making her even more hot as she tossed and turned in the search for sleep. Suddenly her phone played softly from the night stand. Glancing at the 2.15 am display on her alarm clock she reached for the phone in confusion.

_Moonpie_

"Hello?" she asked curiously.

"Hello Penny." Came a soft familiar reply.

"It's quarter past two in the morning Sheldon. You're normally having a REM thingy by now?" Penny questioned.

"A REM sleep cycle." Sheldon clarified softly.

"Can't sleep either huh?" Penny asked.

"I just…needed to hear a friendly voice for a moment." Sheldon replied after a moment. Penny propped herself up on the pillows feeling a little more concerned.

"Sweetie? Anything wrong?" she asked anxiously.

"For the first time in my life Penny…I've found I'm not happy with my own company." Sheldon replied after a moment.

"You're lonely? Well why don't you come back home?" she suggested.

"No. I'm not ready to come home. I just…needed to hear a voice. I assumed you would be the most likely of our social group to be awake at this time of the morning, given your penchant for alcohol and late night infomercials." Sheldon replied. Penny frowned. She'd cut right down on her drinking and she hadn't ordered anything for atleast a week!

"Hey, if you're going to insult me I'm hanging up. It's late you know." Penny warned.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have disturbed you. I'll go." Sheldon replied.

"Sheldon?" Penny asked quickly before he hung up.

"Yes Penny?" he replied.

"You don't sound happy. What's wrong? It sounds like something has happened." Penny replied gently.

"A lot of things have happened. You can't expect time to be suspended." Sheldon replied. Penny frowned again and considered hitting the end call button. It was late and she didn't need this shit!

"Well Sheldon…if I can't do anything I'm gonna try and get to sleep." She said finally.

"Very well. Goodnight Penny." Sheldon replied and abruptly ended the call. Penny sighed and put the phone back on the night stand.

_For God sake, how can it be this hot? I've got to save up for air conditioning, I'm going to melt into a liquid like this! Ha, Sheldon would kill me if he heard me say that. I'd get a 20 minute lecture on how humans can't turn into a complete liquid despite water being a high percentage of their makeup. Oh Sheldon. You really didn't seem happy. Ugh, why was I rude to him on the phone?_

Penny turned over again and punched the pillow beneath her in an attempt to make it more comfortable.

"Hey! You awake?" came a familiar voice. Penny glanced up to see Leonard standing in the doorway grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Don't even think about it! It's too hot!" Penny muttered.

"Aww c'mon!" Leonard whined as he stumbled towards the bed. For once he had been the irresponsible one with alcohol and while she had settled for a single glass of red, he had polished off most of her supply.

"I mean it Leonard! You so much as lay a hand below my waist I will punch you." Penny mumbled.

"There's lots of stuff I can do above the waist?" he grinned.

"Leonard!" Penny warned.

"Hey, I'm hot too, you don't hear me complaining about it!" Leonard argued.

"You're so wasted you can barely tell it's above normal temperature!" Penny argued.

"What's got you so grumpy for anyway?" Leonard asked as he landed with a thump on the bed beside her.

"Sheldon just called me." Penny replied.

"Ah. Question asked question answered. He can make _anyone_ grumpy." Leonard chuckled.

"That's not funny Leonard. He sounded…upset. I'm worried about him." Penny whispered.

"Penny, come on. He's probably upset because he's missed his favourite TV show or something." Leonard replied.

"How can you be so unfeeling?" Penny asked.

"It's quarter past two in the morning, my fiancée won't have sex with me, and I'm pretty sure I'm about to throw up." Leonard replied as he clambered off the bed. Penny grimaced as Leonard walked straight into the chest of drawers.

"Don't you dare be sick on my furniture!" she warned. Leonard groaned and stumbled into the en-suite bathroom. Penny reached for her phone and did a video call. It was finally answered.

"Hey you. I just wanted to make sure you're…woah!" Penny cried when she saw the face come up.

"I thought you were going to attempt sleep?" Sheldon asked.

"Sheldon, your whole face is covered in bruises!" Penny cried.

"I had a run in with a local who decided the spot beneath the bridge was his." Sheldon explained. Penny gasped.

"You're sleeping on the streets?" she asked.

"I didn't know where else to go." Sheldon replied.

"Well for god sake, book into a hotel!" Penny cried.

"A hotel? Do you have any idea how infrequently they clean the rooms there?" Sheldon asked. Penny rubbed her forehead in frustration.

"Are you telling me you've been sleeping on the streets all this time because you don't trust the maid to clean a room?" Penny asked.

"Penny, I hear strange sounds." Sheldon replied ignoring her question. Penny glanced towards the bathroom door.

"Leonard had too much to drink." Penny sighed.

"Interesting. I always had you down as the alcoholic of the relationship." Sheldon mused aloud.

"Hey, I am _not_ an alcoholic! I've cut my drinking right down! I had one glass of wine tonight!" Penny replied.

"Well done Penny. I am suitably impressed." Sheldon replied.

"Sheldon, come on, will you please come home?" Penny asked.

"I'm not ready. I still need time by myself." Sheldon replied.

"No you don't, you told me yourself you're lonely." Penny argued.

"One call to seek a friendly voice and suddenly I'm lonely?" Sheldon scoffed.

"Sheldon, I'm worried about you. Even more now I've seen the state you're in. Won't you atleast tell me where you are so I can come and see you? I promise I won't tell anyone else…it'll just be me. I won't overwhelm you I promise!" Penny reasoned.


	2. Wherefore Art Thou Sheldon?

After a long pause on the phone Penny couldn't take it anymore.

"Sheldon, you're going to make me cry. You shouldn't make a lady cry. Didn't your mother teach you that?" she asked hopefully. She knew Mary Cooper had brought Sheldon up as a gentleman, and occasionally Penny could use this to her advantage to get what she wanted.

"Penny…if I tell you where I am everyone else will follow. Your car is recognisable, any one of them could see you and follow you." Sheldon replied.

"Sheldon, for God sake, I'm not on a search warrant from the police, no one is going to follow me! Even if they do see me, they'll just wave, I'll wave back, and I'll carry on. I'll detour if I have to and get rid of them. Sheldon please! I really want to see you." Penny pleaded.

"Well there's something new. My whole life people have tried to get away from me, now you actually want to go the other way." Sheldon let out a half hearted chuckle.

"Sheldon, don't say that. I care about you. You know I do. You're going to make me cry Sheldon. That's not very gentlemanly is it?" she asked. There was a long pause.

"Do you really think you could see me without anyone else coming? I can't handle everyone right now." Sheldon replied.

"I promise! Just me! Wait, I think Leonard is stirring from the bathroom, hold on!" Penny replied as she climbed out of bed and paced into the living room.

"Alright Sheldon. Just tell me where you are. I'll come see you first thing tomorrow. Please Sheldon!" she pleaded. Sheldon let out a long sigh.

"Alright Penny. I'm at…"

Penny scrunched up her face in confusion as everything went quiet and looked at her phone.

Battery 0%.

_NO! COME ON PHONE, DON'T DO THIS TO ME!_

Penny tried desperately pressing the button to power it back on but there wasn't anything left. She threw it down on the couch and ran her fingers through her long blonde hair.

"Ugh!"

Penny spun round as Leonard made his way unsteadily out into the living room.

"I think I ate something funny!" Leonard moaned. Penny pulled a face.

"Maybe it was that packet of crisps you had between wine glass nine and ten. I find those Cheese and Onion churn my stomach aswell." She replied sarcastically.

"Don't make fun of me. I'm not well." Leonard moaned.

"It's self inflicted. You don't get any sympathy." Penny replied.

"Not even a quick hug?" Leonard asked. Penny could tell from the shifty look on his face exactly what he meant by 'hug'.

"Leonard…you see your crotch? You see my knee? They'll be saying hello to each other!" Penny warned him.

"Have we got any aspirin? My head is pounding." Leonard moaned.

"Bathroom cabinet." Penny replied. Leonard turned round, lost his balance, and landed with a thud on the floor and passed out. Penny picked up her phone from the couch, stood over Leonard and shook her head.

"What the hell am I marrying into?" she asked, stepping over him and heading back into the bedroom.

_Charger. Charger. Where the frick is the charger?! Come on damnit! Argh, screw it!_

Penny paced back out into the living room. Watching Leonards sleeping body on the floor for a minute she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway and closed it softly. Taking a quick reminiscent look at 4A, she made her way up the stairs, letting out a gasp of relief when she pushed open the door to the roof and a breeze hit her.

"Thank god!" she whispered as her body got some much needed cool air. She made her way to the edge and looked out across the city.

_How can it be so hot inside yet reasonable out here? I should start sleeping on the roof. Ha, I wouldn't have to pay any rent on my apartment. Hmm. Might get a bit wet when it rained though._

Penny shook her head to bring her out of that bizarre thought. She let out a long sigh.

_You're somewhere out there Sheldon. I wish I knew where. Where is your tech gadgetry when I need it? All I need is a phone charger damnit! Then I could call you. Find out where you are. See you. Ugh! Life is so screwed up sometimes Moonpie!_

Penny smiled for a moment, thinking back to the number of times she had called him by his Meemaws term of endearment. They had known each other for years, and still he couldn't work out she would never stop calling him that. Especially since she knew it bugged him when he was annoying her. It was like the revenge that kept on giving.

_Oh Sheldon!_

Penny leaned over and rested her arms on the edge of the wall and propped her head up on it, gazing out absent mindedly as she thought of all the places he could possibly be.

_Disneyland._

_The comic book store._

_His office._

_Somewhere all by himself with no one to look after him._

The last thought made her sad. Sheldon had always been a loner, but she had often thought he secretly would like company, even if he wouldn't admit it, or didn't know it. The call she'd received earlier had proved it. He just called to hear a friendly voice. Her voice. She let out a sigh.

_I have to find you Sheldon. You need me. Even if you don't want to admit it._

Penny let out another sigh. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting a gentle breeze give her relief from the warmth of her apartment that had caused sleep to allude her.

_Maybe I should have joined Leonard with the alcohol. Atleast I'd be asleep. But then I would have missed the call._

Penny knew somehow that she was grateful she hadn't over indulged tonight. Sheldons call was important. She wouldn't have wanted to miss it for the world.


	3. All out of luck

Penny absent mindedly kicked her foot out and yelped.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she asked looking down at a concrete box on the ground. She bent down and opened the lid. There was a mobile phone and a note. She lifted the note out and read it.

_This is an emergency phone. Unlike myself who has a 187 IQ and would therefore never go out onto the roof without a proper communication device, ie my cell phone, I rather imagine that other less intelligent members, if in the situation of being locked out on the roof due to the dodgy door which maintenance refuse to fix despite my regular reminders_, would not have access to a phone to call for help. This phone, once switched on, may be used in emergencies only.

Doctor Sheldon Cooper.

_Oh my god! Only Sheldon would keep a phone on the roof! Wait, a phone on the roof! I can call him!_

Penny quickly switched the phone on and groaned impatiently while she waited for the start up screen to progress through its cycle. Finally she could dial the number.

"Sheldon?" she asked urgently when it answered.

"Penny, I recognise the number you are calling on. You are using my emergency roof phone for a non emergency call aren't you?" he scolded.

"Oh shut up!" Penny hissed. She could tell by the silence Sheldon was fuming at the insult.

"Why should I shut up? I have so many important things to say!" he finally told her.

"Sheldon, if I hadn't used your emergency phone I wouldn't be speaking to you would I? My phone is dead and I can't find the charger." Penny explained.

"Hardly surprising. Your apartment is a vortex of entropy with no organisational schematic whatsoever." Sheldon replied. Penny ground her teeth.

"You know what, I'm starting to regret calling!" she hissed.

"Why _did_ you call?" Sheldon asked. Penny softened.

"Because I want to see you. Please Sheldon." She whispered softly. Sheldon sighed softly.

"Alright Penny, I shall give you my current location." Sheldon said finally.

"Wait, this phone isn't going to die out like mine is it?" Penny asked.

"Pfft! Hardly Penny! It has an extended battery supply which I developed myself. It will last considerably longer than this conversation needs to be." Sheldon scoffed.

"Alright, just tell me where you are!" Penny replied.

"OK Penny…I'm at…"

BANG!

Penny jumped at the sound of a car backfiring in the street nearby, and the phone slipped from her grasp, right over the edge of the roof.

"OH FUCKITY FUCK FUCK FUCK!" Penny yelled as she watched it tumble down the various floors of the Los Robles Avenue building until it landed with a loud smash and shattered across the sidewalk.

"HEY THAT NEARLY HIT ME!" called a voice from down below. Penny looked closer.

"KRIPKE! THANK YOU FOR INTRODUCING ME TO A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE!" she yelled down to him.

"WHAT WOULD THAT BE?" he yelled up to her.

"BEING PLEASED TO SEE YOU!" Penny yelled down.

"HERE'S AN IMPORTANT LESSON. IF YOU WANT SOMEONE TO HELP YOU, DON'T INSULT THEM!" Kripke yelled back up to her.

"KRIPKE! PLEASE COME BACK! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! KRIPKE PLEASE! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Penny yelled down to him. Kripke reluctantly stood still, and Penny raced through the door down all the floors until she raced through the lobby and found him out on the sidewalk.

"Do you think you could fix this phone?" Penny asked pointing at the shattered remains. Kripke scoffed.

"Stephen Hawking wouldn't be able to fix that. I've seen cars go into the crusher and come out in better state than that!"

"Then can I borrow your phone? I need to call Sheldon!" Penny replied.

"That whackadoodle? I thought he left?" Kripke asked.

"Can I use your phone or not?" Penny asked impatiently.

"What's it worth?" Kripke asked. Penny recoiled at the grin on his face.

"Eww! Not that!" Penny shuddered.

"Alright, let me see them. Then you can use my phone." Kripke relented.

"You're a seriously fucked up individual!" Penny replied as she lifted her t shirt up.

"You're the one flashing on a public sidewalk! Very nice by the way." Kripke grinned.

"Alright, give me the damn phone!" Penny replied pulling her shirt back down.

"I don't have my phone on me. I was just going for a walk due to the heat stopping me from sleeping." Kripke.

"But I just…" Penny started.

"I know." Kripke grinned.

"I fucking hate you!" Penny spat.

"Always a pleasure Woxanne." H e grinned moving past her.

"Penny!" she yelled.

"Woxanne is hotter." He shrugged and disappeared round the corner.

"I have to move. I can't take it." Penny whispered to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair.

As she made her way back through the lobby doors and up to her apartment, she got more and more miserable with every step. She was never going to find Sheldon. He needed her. And deep down she needed him. And yet somehow everything conspired against her to keep them apart. Then it hit her.

_Leonards phone!_

Penny raced through the door, leaped over Leonards still passed out body, and into the bedroom. She spotted Leonards phone on the table and quickly dialled the number.

"You are disturbing my REM sleep cycle Leonard!" Sheldon growled when he answered.

"Sheldon, I was talking to you minutes ago, don't give me that!" Penny argued.

"I thought it was Leonard. Why are you ringing on Leonards phone? You had a perfectly good phone to use." Sheldon replied.

"I dropped it off the roof." Penny explained. She grimaced as she heard the splutters and exhalations that made her certain he was about to give a stern lecture.

"YOU DROPPED MY EMERGENCY PHONE?!" he yelled.

"Sheldon, focus! Tell me where you are!" Penny replied.

"Is there any point? Something seems to happen every time I try to." Sheldon replied. The sudden sound of defeat in his voice made her insides clench together.

"Don't say it like that. Just tell me and I promise I'll be there." Penny whispered.


	4. All alone

"I'm OK." Sheldon sighed after a moment.

"No you're not. I can tell. You can't lie to me Sheldon. I know you too well you crazy fool!" Penny replied.

"I am not crazy. My mother had me tested. And I have an IQ of 187…which is not the definition of a fool either." Sheldon replied. Penny rolled her eyes.

"Come on Sheldon. Are you going to tell me where you are or am I going to have to ring your mother and tell her you're being ungentlemanly?" Penny asked.

"You wouldn't do that." Sheldon replied.

"Wouldn't I?" Penny asked.

"What am I talking about, of course you would. You're a frustrating person Penny." Sheldon whispered.

"Yeah, but you love me!" Penny giggled.

"I most certainly do not. Our friendship agreement contains no romantic love variable." Sheldon informed her.

"I don't mean that kind of love Sheldon. Like when you _love_ chocolate cake, or Star Wars. That kind of love." Penny smiled, though Sheldon couldn't see the smile through the phone.

"That is a mere figure of speech. It's not possible to be in love with an inanimate object." Sheldon replied.

"Oh I dunno. I'm in love with my dog chew toys." Penny bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"That's disgusting Penny, I researched those and I am appalled at your lack of control of sexual urges!" Sheldon scolded her.

"Sheldon, come on, we're getting off topic. Will you please just tell me where you are so I can come and see you?" Penny asked.

"Penny I have to go!" Sheldon said suddenly.

"What? Why?" Penny asked.

"I can't talk now. I have to go. It's an emergency. Penny, if you can get to Sunshine beach tomorrow night I will meet you there at 9.00 pm. If I can make it. I have to go." Sheldon cried out and hung up abruptly.

"What? Sunshine beach? Sheldon? Sh…Sheldon." Penny sighed as she realised he'd hung up. She slumped down onto the bed and the rest of the night passed.

"Ugh!"

Penny awoke and glanced at the clock. 11.45 am. She glanced over the side of the bed at Leonard who was slowly struggling to make it into the bedroom.

"Penny, my head!" he groaned leaning against the door frame.

"You aren't getting any sympathy from me!" Penny replied.

"Aspirin?" he asked hopefully.

"Bathroom cabinet, like I told you last night before you passed out on the floor." Penny replied. Leonard slowly trudged into the bathroom holding his head and closed the door.

"Why can't _you_ be gone instead of Sheldon?" Penny muttered to herself quietly.

"UGH!" Leonard groaned loudly from the bathroom. Penny scrunched up her face.

_I'm not gonna sit here listening to him throwing up!_

Penny climbed off the bed and promptly tripped forward.

"What the…?" she cried looking at a cable wrapped round her foot from under the bed.

_My phone charger! You are frickin' kidding me!_

Penny quickly grabbed it and her phone and made her way into the kitchen, plugging it into the socket in the kitchen and plugged the phone in. After a few minutes there was enough charge in it to switch the phone on. She tapped away on the keyboard.

_Sheldon, I found my charger. I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight. Penny. X_

Penny opened up her gallery and scanned through the pictures, settling on a picture of him standing over her when she had dared to sit in his spot and had taken his picture instead of getting up. She giggled at the memory.

_Oh Sheldon. I miss you ya big Whackadoodle!_

She traced her thumb over his face.

_I'll see you soon. I promise._

"Penny?"

Penny groaned and put her phone on the counter.

"Leonard, if you've been sick on my new toilet mat!" Penny warned making her way through to the bathroom.

"DEAR GOD, IT'S EVERYWHERE!" Penny cried. Her gag reflex went and she stumbled from the room.

"Penny, it won't stop!" Leonard moaned.

"Get your head over the toilet! You're cleaning that up!" Penny cried going back into the living room.

_I must be crazy to be marrying him!_

Penny grabbed her phone again. 1 new message.

_I hope you can make it. I really need to see you. Doctor Sheldon Lee Cooper._

Penny felt anxious. He didn't seem happy. But loud thumps from the bathroom distracted her.

"God sake, it's like babysitting a three year old!" she hissed as she went back through to clean up her child-like fiancée.

"My head!" Leonard moaned.

"Oh cry me a river!" Penny spat in reply.

When Leonard made his way to bed, it gave her most of the day in the living room by herself, constantly watching the clock. At 8.55 pm, after telling Leonard she was going out to look at a shoe sale, knowing he wouldn't be interested in going with her, she found herself parked up by the path to Sunshine beach. She got out of the car and locked it, walking until she reached the sand and taking her shoes off, her feet enjoying the soft feeling of the golden sand.

_You stupid woman. Why are you looking for him? You know he won't be here until exactly 9.00 pm!_

Those five minutes felt like an age. She kept glancing around in all directions, but she appeared to be the only person on the beach.

_OK. It's 9.01 pm. This is not right. Something isn't right. Why didn't I bring my phone with me?!_

Penny kept looking around but no one was arriving. As time went by Penny got more and more worried.

"Come on Sheldon. Where are you?" she whispered. She moved further down the beach, then walked back, all the time scanning around but no one was here. This wasn't like Sheldon. When he said he was going to be somewhere at a time, he was always there. It was one of the annoying regularities about him.

_Please god…let him be OK. I'm begging you._


End file.
